Vegan nougat ice cream (helado de turrón)

Banana and roasted almonds iced cream with an irresistible nuttiness aroma and an added indulgent caramel flavour.


Hola!

Today I bring you my plant-based version of a classic Spanish ice cream: nougat ice cream (helado de turrón). It is made with roasted almonds that give it an irresistible nuttiness aroma and it has an indulgent caramel flavour. But the twist is that I didn’t use any sugar or any cream replacement (e.g. coconut milk).

Ever since I can recall, nougat ice cream has always been my favourite. You get spoiled with choice at ice cream parlours, and you might get caught up between a hundred flavours and the impatient but polite look of the shop server. But when it comes to nougat ice cream, there is no doubt. If I could choose several scoop flavours and there was nougat ice cream, my mind was made up for that one at least.

PLANT POWER, MAKE UP!

Once I became plant-based, I learnt that Spanish nougat contains egg white, and whereas is relatively simple to find other accidentally vegan chocolate nougat in Spain during the Christmas holidays (Mercadona, we love you), nougat ice cream and in general vegan ice cream is not a mainstream thing yet. As the “heat waves” hit the UK during summer, and they remind me of a warm spring day in Valencia, I find myself craving ice cream so hard, especially nougat ice cream.

I did a bit of research and most people veganise ice cream by adding coconut milk and I had also seen ice cream and smoothie recipes with frozen bananas. Bananas are whole fruits and they work as ice cream base. Now I needed the nougat flavour. And it hit me, the Spanish nougat that is used to make this ice cream is the soft one (turrón de Jijona), which is mostly made with roasted almonds. That is something that I could make!

In order to avoid sugar, which most bloggers use, I added pitted dates, which give a natural sweetness and also have the fibre of the fruit. I like subtle sweetness rather than in-your-face-caster-sugar rush, so if you find my recipe not sweet enough for you, you can always add a bit of maple syrup before freezing.

I am very pleased to present you with a healthier choice of a classic Spanish ice cream with ingredients that we all have. My recipe is dairy-free and sugar-free (if you don’t use caramel sauce).


VEGAN NOUGAT ICE CREAM (HELADO DE TURRÓN)


Makes: 4 portions
Prep: 30 min
Freeze: 4 hours


INGREDIENTS

3 frozen bananas
3 dates, pitted
200g chopped almonds
1/2 tsp. caramel flavour or 1 tbsp. caramel sauce
1/4 tsp. cinnamon powder
A pinch of salt


INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Take the bananas out of the freezer and put them in the blender cup.
  2. Put the pitted dates in a bowl with 1/3 cup boiling water and let them soften.
  3. Roast the chopped almonds for 10 minutes in a preheated oven at 190°C or until nice and brown. Stir halfway through. Keep checking because they go from brown to burnt in the blink of an eye. Let them cool down.
  4. Blend the bananas, caramel flavour/caramel sauce, cinnamon, dates and 2 tbsp. of the dates water until you get a smooth cream. Put in a bowl and set aside.
  5. Blend the roasted chopped almonds except for a handful, which we will use for decorating. Blend them by pulsing on your blender and not a continuous blend, or you'll end up with an almond butter. We want a coarse blend rather than smooth. This will add a crunchy texture to the ice cream.
  6. Mix the banana blend and the almonds blend in a bowl, add the pinch of salt and put back in the blender. Blend until your desired texture. If you prefer, adjust sweetness to taste with the sweetener of your choice (maple syrup, date sugar, etc.).
  7. Put the mixture into a container and keep in the freezer for at least 4 hours.
  8. Before serving, let it out at room temperature for about 10 minutes or pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
  9. Scoop the ice cream into a bowl or a cone and sprinkle with the remaining roasted chopped almonds. If you like the toppings sweeter, you can mix the chopped almonds with a dollop of maple syrup or caramel sauce before topping the ice cream.

You can keep the ice cream in the freezer for a year, but it won’t last that long!

Bon profit!